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Cougars top a young Wolves football team

Posted 8/31/11 (Wed)

By Neal A. ShipmanFarmer Editor

Heart River made team history Friday night as the Cougars picked up their first-ever win over Watford City in football action.
The Cougars used a strong running attack as Heart River piled up 321 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to roll over Watford City, 39-6, in opening season action for both teams.
The Cougars, according to Fred Fridley, Wolves’ head coach, returned most of their starters from a year ago and it showed, as they were the better team both on offense and defense.
While Watford City would get on the scoreboard first, the Wolves were no match for the Cougars.
In the first quarter, the Wolves scored on their first possession with Tyler Bates hauling in a pass from Lucas Nicholson for a 55-yard touchdown.
But Heart River answered right back as the Cougars scored three first-quarter touchdowns to hold a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Cougars would score once in the second quarter to post a 26-6 halftime lead before scoring two more touchdowns in the third quarter to wrap up the game’s scoring.
Turnovers proved to be the Wolves’ downfall as Watford City had a very uncharacteristic seven turnovers in the game.
“Anytime you have that many turnovers, no matter who you play, you are not going to win a football game,” stated Fridley. “We also did not tackle well and that is the biggest area of concern of the football game. We must get better in that area and things will improve.”
Offensively, the Wolves rushed for 150 yards and passed for 113 yards.
The Wolves will open their Region 3 schedule on Friday when Watford City travels to Des Lacs-Burlington for a 4 p.m. game.
“DLB also lost their opening game and the winner will have the upper hand if either team makes the playoffs,” states Fridley. “I feel not having our starting linebackers in the game that we need some players to step up and make plays for us. If we can eliminate the turnovers and our tackling gets better, we can be a good football team.”
Even though the Wolves lost their first game of the season, Fridley knows that the team will improve.
“We saw some positive things in the Heart River game, and we will be a better team this week,” stated Fridley.Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Austin Garmann, 17-73 yards; Jayden Grotte, 12-55 yards; Lucas Nicholson, 5-11 yards; Dalton Wright, 1-1, yards.
Passing: Lucas Nicholson, 7-20-5 for 110 yards.
Recieving: Tyler Bates, 2-65 yards; Brandon Stoker, 1-24 yards; Shawn Fulwider, 2-21 yards; Nate Egeberg, 1-2 yards; Jayden Grotte, 1-1 yard.
Fumble Recoveries: Brice Brenno, 1, Nate Egeberg. 1.
Defensive Points: Shawn Fulwider, 35; Daniel Marmon, 25; Brice Brenno, 22; Nate Egeberg, 19; Austin Garmann, 17; Cole Rolfsrud, 13; Tyler Bates, 7; Shane Jorgenson, 6; Gus Nelson, 5; Dalton Wright, 5; Brandon Allex, 5; Rich Stuchlik, 4; Brandon Stoker, 4; Reid Brown, 4; Shawn Connolly, 4;, Andrew Sampsel, 3;, Justice Lafley, 2; Jonathan Dunn, 1; Keegan Thompson, 1.